The Seattle Supersonics. A Franchise Reborn.

[SkylineXC]

The Seattle Supersonics. A Franchise Reborn.

The expansion draft resulted in the Sonics roster looking like this:
PG Jimmer Fredette
SG Doron Lamb
SG Malcom Lee
SF Kyle Singler
SF Lance Stephenson
PF Donatas Motiejunas
PF Reggie Evans
PF Steve Novak
C Jeremy Tyler
C Hamed Haddadi

The focus of our coaching staff is going to be player development.

Head Coach:
Nate McMillan

Assistant Coaches:
1st: Mike Dunlap
2nd: T.R. Dunn
3rd: Shareef Abdur-Rahim


2013 NBA Draft:
The Sonics had 4 picks going into the NBA draft. The 4th, 32nd, and 44th.
We also traded Montiejunas for the 14th pick from Utah.

4. Semi Andjelic C 7-1 Serbia-Montenegro
14. Kenny Crawford PG 6-0 Arizona State
32. Jose Ordonez PF 6-10 Argentina
44. Derek Fuhs SF 6-9 Michigan State


Summer League Stats:


Thoughts:

Andjelic played well and should be a starter from day one.

Crawford is very raw and it might be a few years before he can make an impact, even on an expansion team.

Ordonez struggled mightily.

Fuhs played well for a mid-second rounder and will find some minutes in the Sonics rotation.


Free Agency 2013:

We enter free agency looking for a Shooting Guard, Small Forward, and Power Forward.

We wind up signing:

JJ Redick SG to a 2-year, 9 million dollar contract
Lamar Odom PF to a 1-year, 4.5 million dollar contract


Post-Training Camp Depth Chart:
PG: Jimmer Fredette
SG: JJ Redick
SF: Derek Fuhs
PF: Lamar Odom
C: Semi Andjelic
6: Doron Lamb
7: Kyle Singler
8: Malcom Lee
9: Steve Novak
10: Jeremy Tyler
11: Kenny Crawford
12: Reggie Evans
IR: Hamed Haddadi
IR: Lance Stephenson
DL: Jose Ordonez

[SkylineXC]

All-Star Break 2013

Seattle Record: 6-42




Both Andjelic and Fuhs were rookie/sophomore game reserves.

[SkylineXC]

Year End Recap 2013:

Seattle finished with a 12-70 record.

Season Stats



Seattle had the 2nd worst record in the NBA, but we ended up getting the 5th pick in the draft.

Kenny Crawford and Derek Fuhs were named to the All-Rookie Second Team.

[Rizzo]

Hope you're scouting those top picks right about now. I started a Seattle expansion a few months back and enjoyed it a lot...until I got fired. Good luck!

[SkylineXC]

Thanks, I just started scouting now! My tenure as the Sonics GM might end fairly quickly as the owner has low patience! Hopefully I can make them into a playoff team soon!

[SkylineXC]

Off-season 2014:

NBA Draft:
5: Bagrat Abkhazov SF 6-9 Estonia


Free Agency:
C Kwame Brown 2-years, 5 million
PF Jordan Hill 3-year, 21.7 million
PG Eric Maynor 2-year, 5.1 million


Starting Lineup:

PG Kenny Crawford:
6-0 156 21
1 Year Pro
Crawford slipped into the Sonics starting lineup near the end of last season and looks to be a full time starter this year.

SG JJ Redick:
6-4 190 29
8 Years Pro
Redick struggled from the field last season, shooting under 40%. If he doesn’t improve his percentages this could be his last year with Seattle.

SF Bagrat Abkhazov
6-9 204 20
Rookie
Abkhazov appears to have the potential to be a solid starter for Seattle in the future. Bagrat can do a little bit of everything on the offensive end of the floor, but is a terrible defender.

PF Jordan Hill
6-10 235 26
5 Years Pro
Hill is an energy player who can grab a fair amount of rebounds and get some hustle points on offense

C Semi Andjelic
7-1 301 22
1 Year Pro
Andjelic is a massive presence in the post. While he doesn’t rack up the defensive stats he clogs the lane effectively. Andjelic looks to lead the Sonics with Crawford in the coming years.


Bench:

SF Kyle Singler
6-9 228 25
2 Years Pro
Singler slots in as the sixth man and brings a little bit of everything from his reserve role.
C Kwame Brown
6-11 270 32
13 Years Pro
Brown cannot make a free throw to save his life, but he can bring some energy of the bench when our starting bigs need a rest.

SF Derek Fuhs
6-9 214 23
1 Year Pro
Fuhs will play a smaller role than last year due to the Sonics improvement at his position, but he will find some minutes as a spot-up shooter.

PG Eric Maynor
6-2 165 27
5 Years Pro
Maynor will be Seattle’s primary bench point guard, he is a good ball handler and defender, so he should see some minutes.

SG Doron Lamb
6-4 199 22
2 Years Pro
Lamb is a phenomenal outside shooter who will be used to space the floor.

Unlikely to play big minutes:

C Chris “Birdman” Anderson
PF Steve Novak
PF Reggie Evans
PF Jose Ordonez (D-League)


I believe the Sonics will be an improved team this season, but not improved enough to make the playoffs.

[SkylineXC]

All-Star Break 2014

Seattle Sonics Record: 12-40

Player Stats:


Semi Andjelic and Kenny Crawford started for the Sophomore Team
Crawford took home MVP honors with 20 points and 17 assists.

Bagrat Abkhazov started for the Rookie Team.


Seattle has improved, but needs maybe one or two more pieces to contend for a playoff spot.

[Rizzo]

When I played as the Sonics, Eric Maynor and Doron Lamb both started for me and played pretty well. The fact you can use them off the bench is a nice luxury. You will have to hit it big in free agency, but also need to sign the right guy(s) to lead your team. It's tough to win in this game and even tougher to do when you start from the very bottom.

[SkylineXC]

End of Season 2014

Seattle finished with a 17-65 record, a mere 5 game improvement from last year.



We had the second worst record again, but this time we moved up and won the draft lottery!
Also my job security has dropped from 5 to 4, so I’ll have to find a way to get Seattle into the playoffs soon.


2015 NBA Draft:
1. PF James Allen 6-9 23 Northwestern
32. SG Jay Johnson 6-3 22 Utah


Free Agency:
After losing out on a bunch of quality free agents due to our losing complexion, we wound up signing:

SG Paul George 4-year, 58 million dollar contract
SF Luc Richard Mbah A Moute 3-year, 15.6 million dollar contract
C/PF Kevin Garnett 1 year, 2.6 million contract
SG JJ Redick 2-year, 4 million dollar contract
SF Derek Fuhs 2-year, 1.7 million dollar contract


Your 2015 Seattle Supersonics Starting Line-Up:

PG Kenny Crawford
6-0 156 22 Years Old
Arizona State
2 Years Pro
Crawford is a great 3-point shooter, 45% last season. He is also one of the best ball-thieves in the NBA. Crawford looks to find himself on the floor more often this season.

SG Paul George
6-9 214 26 Years Old
Fresno State
5 Years Pro
George is a great defender, and a terrific rebounder for a wing, averaging 8.1 a game last season. George will hopefully be that one star player Seattle has been looking for to put them into contention for the postseason.

SF Luc Richard Mbah A Moute
6-8 230 28 Years Old
UCLA
7 Years Pro
Mbah lacks any offensive skills, but he is a good rebounder and defender, and the Sonics appear to have improved their defense greatly from last season.

PF James Allen
6-9 249 23 Years Old
Northwestern
Rookie
I took a reach on Allen on the first pick as the draft was a crapshoot, and it appears I guessed wrong, Allen is a solid player, but he can’t play defense.

C Semi Andjelic
7-1 301 23 Years Old
Serbia-Montenegro
2 Years Pro
Andjelic has improved greatly since coming to the NBA, but don’t be surprised to see his stats dropped with Seattle’s improved depth.


Key Reserves:
PF Jordan Hill
SF Bagrat Abkhazov
C Kevin Garnett
SG JJ Redick
PG Eric Maynor


Rest of the Bench:
SG Jay Johnson (R)
PF Steve Novak
SF Derek Fuhs
C Kwame Brown

Seattles depth appears much improved as 3 starters from last year are coming off the bench. Look for Seattle to notch at least 30 wins.

[SkylineXC]

When I played as the Sonics, Eric Maynor and Doron Lamb both started for me and played pretty well. The fact you can use them off the bench is a nice luxury. You will have to hit it big in free agency, but also need to sign the right guy(s) to lead your team. It's tough to win in this game and even tougher to do when you start from the very bottom.

Yeah, Maynor has been a solid point guard off the bench and Doron can score a bunch off the bench, but with JJ Redick on the bench now I decided against re-signing Doron. Plenty of decent free agents choose to sign with contenders for much less money than what I offered them, so hopefully that will change once Seattle develops a winning culture!